Nut-lock.



PATENTED JAN. 20, 1903.

E W E T I A I WITNESSES:

iil flwf lg ATTORNEYS UNTTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD S. HAWKINS, OF SYRACUSE, NE\V YORK.

NUT-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 718,838, dated January20, 1903.

Application filed May 8, 1901. Renewed December 29,1902. Serial No.137,063. No models) To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. HAWKINS, residing at Syracuse, in thecounty of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Nut-Locks, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of nutlocks in which a piece of sheetmetal is placed like awasher around the bolt beneath the nut and aportion or portions bent outward to engage the side or sides of the nutto prevent it from turning or being unscrewed in service.

The object of the invention is to so shape the said piece of sheet metalthat the bolt and nut will be held under tension and not rigidly, aswhen an edge or inner portion of the sheet is turned or bent over uponitself to engage the edge of the nut after the nut is turned up tight.By my improved nut-lock the nut may be applied to the bolt and turned uptight and held in place without binding the washer, and, further, thenut may be removed by a heavy wrench without bending the washer, as byhammering or turning over its edge.

My invention allows the use of a shorter bolt than many of the nut-locksthat have been used, and is thusa great saving in material, weight, timein making and applying, and expense of manufacture. No hammering orbending of the washer is necessary at any time, as it is always in aproper condition to hold and retain the nut and will allow its removalby a wrench.

As the washer is not subjected to hammering or bending, it is not liableto break age and will outlast other nut-locks formed of washers. Anotheradvantage is that the parts held together-as the rail, fish-plates,bolt, and nut are not rigidly held so that the parts cannot yieldwithout injury to the thread on the bolt and nut; but the parts arefirmly and securely held together, but yieldingly and flexibly, so thatthe parts cannot suffer and will endure all vibration Without strain orseparation.

In the drawings hereto annexed and formin g a part of thisspecification, Figure l is a transverse vertical section of a rail andfishplates secured together by a bolt and nut, the latter being lockedin place by my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are front, side, and edge views,respectivel v,of my improved nutlocking washer for railroad-rails andother metallic devices; and Figs. 4 and 5 are front, side, and edgeviews of my invention when the plate or washer is not made concavoconvexand is adapted for application to wood, the corners being bent over toenter the wood when the nut is turned down tight upon the front face ofthe plate.

Referring specifically to the drawings, A represents a cross-section ofa railroad-rail, B B two fish-plates, and O a bolt passing through bothplates and the web of the rail, as usual.

D represents the nut, of the usual form, the same being preferablysquare, as shown in the drawings, screw-threaded upon the bolt to holdthe fish-plates against the rails, and E represents my improved washerbetween the the piece are a pair of semicircular or crescent-shapedapertures or slits I) Z), with their concave walls toward the centralaperture, though not concentric with it, as they differ in curvature.The lips c 0 thus formed by the said concave walls are bent or curvedoutward to bear upon the opposite sides or faces of the nut and preventit from turning; but as the lips are curved outward they do not preventor interfere with the turning in of the nut by a wrench or whennecessary the removal of the nut from the bolt by the same instrument.'This is facilitated by the round inner corners of the square nut, whichis now in common use for rail-bolts. The apertures on opposite sides ofthe central aperture appear crescent-shaped when the lips are bentoutward and when the washer is viewed from either of its sides.

To gain the desired flexibility and tension hereinbefore referred to,the piece or washer E is formed concavo-convex, with its convex side orface outward or on the side from which the lips project. When the nut isturned in,

it may receive one or more revolutions after it contacts with the washeruntil the latter is flat or nearly fiat against the fish-plate. The lipsare resilient and are forced outwardly when the nut is turned and thecorners engage them, but return inward to their place when the sides ofthe nut are parallel with the sides of the plate, so that the nut isheld from turning during any vibratory force and until a heavy wrench isapplied. Most washers that form nut-locks are useless after a singleapplication, because they are bent to such an extent or degree when anut is applied and removed that they break or are weakened, so that theycan no longer be depended upon to hold the nut; but with my inventionthis is not the case, and the washer may be used again and again withoutdanger.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a washer the same as or similar to the one abovedescribed, but not concavo-convex in form, but perfectlyfiat. Thecorners d d, &c., of the piece are bent down, so that when applied to asurface of wood they will enter when the nut is turned in tight, and thepiece is thus prevented from turning. plied to a railroad-rail or anyother devices providing a shoulder or shoulders for one or more of theedges of the washer to shut.

against need not be provided with bent corners, as will be obvious, forit will be retained in place by the shoulderor shoulders.

My improved nut-lock may be used for various purposes, and I do notdesire to be limited to its use for rail-joints alone.

In-some cases a single semicircular aperture b and lip 0 will besufficient in a washer to hold the nut. It will also be obvious that theshape of the aperture may be varied without departing from the spirit ofmy invention. It is only necessary that the aperture be of irregularoutline, so that by bending its wall outward a lip will be formed, whichconstruction will still attain one of the advantages of my invention,which consists of a gliding contact between the nut and its locking-lip.

Having described my invention, what I This washer, however, when apclaimas new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A nut-lock consisting of a perforated washer having semicircularapertures on opposite sides of the perforation, the lips formed by theconcave walls of the apertures being curved outward to engage theopposite sides 'of the nut, substantially as described and shown.

2. A nut-lock consisting of a perforated Washer having a pair ofsemicircular apertures on opposite sides of the perforation, the lipsformed by the concave walls of the apertures being curved outward toengage the opposite sides of the nut, and the corners of the washer bentinward, substantially as described and shown.

3. A nut-lock consisting of a perforated washer having a semicircularaperture therein to one side of the perforation and. the con cave wallformed by the said aperture being curved outward to bear upon one sideof the nut and forming a resilient lip which will allow the nut to beturned by a wrench without permanently changing the curvature of thelip, as set forth.

4:. A nut-lock, consisting of a centrally-perforated concavo-convexwasher having an aperture of irregular outline therein, the lip formedby the wall of said aperture being curved outwardly to bear upon a sideof a nut.

5. A nut-lock consisting of a rectangular centrally perforated concavoconvex plate having a pair of semicircular apertures on opposite sidesof the said perforation, the concave walls of the apertures beingnearest the perforation, said walls forming curved lips and bent outwardto engage the opposite sides of a nut when in position with its sidesparallel with the sides of the plate, substantially as described andshown.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

EDWARD s. HAWKINS.

Witnesses:

FRED W. HAMMOND, GEORGE E. HAMMOND.

